A/N: I'm SO sorry this chapter has taken so long! I've been extremely busy (college will do that to you), and on top of that, I've had writer's block. This fic is ALMOST done; I think it's got another chapter or two, at the most, unless there's an unexpected turn of events. I'm sorry this chapter is so very short; for some reason, this section needed to stand on its own. Thanks to all of you still reading!

----------

It was the final night of Harold's transformation as a human, and quite frankly, Fairy Godmother was nervous. She had been keeping an eye on him and Lillian as much as she could through the course of their three-day courtship; it wasn't as though she had tons of other business flowing in to distract her from her prize prince. And he WAS her prize; her future rested on the fate of his romance. Much to her dismay, he STILL hadn't found the courage to kiss the girl, and without that kiss, Harold would simply return to his amphibian form.

"Why did I have to pick a bloody coward to place all my bets on?" she muttered to herself, watching the couple walking by the same lily pond she had plucked Harold out of a few days ago. The forest surrounding the pond provided ample cover for her; in the future, she would learn to shrink herself to a size that could more easily go unseen, but at the present time she wasn't quite skilled enough to make that attempt. For now, she simply lurked in the trees, wearing a dark cloak to conceal her presence. Luckily for her, the night air was quiet, and she could plainly make out everything that was said over by the pond without having to creep any closer.

"Nice night, isn't it?" Harold remarked a little nervously to his lady love, breaking an awkward silence that had existed between them.

"Oh, yes, it's quite lovely," Lillian replied automatically, even though the sky was thick with clouds. No sooner had the words left her lips than a clap of thunder sounded in the distance. Another awkward silence ensued.

"For pity's sake, Harold," Fairy Godmother muttered again, frustrated. "I should think he'd have gotten at least past THIS stage in three days..." Somewhere in the back of her mind, a little part of her tried to remind her how far she and Frederick had advanced in their relationship in just three days, but her heart refused to listen any longer.

"It's not nearly as lovely as you," Harold replied after the silence; the pause had been too long for his comment to make much sense, however, and Lillian blinked at him in confusion.

"What's not?" she asked, frowning slightly.

"Oh, erm. The night. You...said it was lovely, and...well...oh, dear," he said, taking in a large gulp of air.

"Oh. Thank you," Lillian replied politely, hiding a smile at his uncertainty. There was another long silence, and in the trees, Fairy Godmother groaned quietly in frustration. Then, suddenly, Harold turned towards Lillian and took her hands in his, causing her to draw in a surprised breath.

"Oh, dash it all, Lady Lillian--"

"Please, just call me Lillian," she interrupted.

"Right, right, of course," he said apologetically. "Um...where was I?"

"Dash it all?" she supplied.

"Yes, quite. Um..." he said, trailing off again. He had lost his momentum and wasn't quite sure of how to go about things now. Sighing, he just held her hands gently and spoke from his heart, gazing into her blue eyes with his soulful brown ones. "Lillian, I think you're the most beautiful, wonderful woman I've ever met in my whole life, and...and I know you probably don't think much of me, but if you could just grant me...just one kiss...I swear to you that I could die a happy man."

Lillian smiled at him a little shyly and nodded. He blinked, surprised at her reaction and wondering what he was supposed to do next.

"Kiss her, Harold," Fairy Godmother hissed from the trees, knowing full well that he couldn't hear her at that distance. Then, to her surprise as much as to Lillian's, Harold leaned forward and kissed the fair-haired girl, gently and sweetly, exactly as a prince is supposed to kiss a fair maiden. Fairy Godmother breathed out a sigh of relief just as Lillian drew in a breath of surprise. After a few moments, Harold pulled away again, still holding Lillian's hands.

"I hope I wasn't too forward," he said suddenly, his voice a little quieter than it had been when he was nervous and stammering. Lillian just smiled and leaned forward to return his kiss.

"Well, that's taken care of," Fairy Godmother said to herself, turning her back on the whole scene just as it was starting to get interesting. She had no desire to stand around and watch a couple of young lovebirds make fools of themselves by giving their hearts to each other. But then, something compelled her to turn around again, and she glanced over her shoulder to watch them for a moment more. The moon had broken through the clouds, and it shone on the couple by the pond, basking them in a pale glow. For one brief moment, the woman who had been Belinda Larae broke through her tough Fairy Godmother exterior, and she looked upon the lovers with a trace of tears in her eyes and a sort of sad tenderness in her expression. Then, the clouds covered the moon again, and the spell was broken. Her face hardened, and the tears dried up in her eyes as she flew away to her cottage.